1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to connectors and electronic components connectable to the connectors, and particularly relates to a connector and an electronic component connectable to the connector not damaged by repeated connections and disconnections therebetween.
2. Description of the Related Art
To efficiently transmit a large quantity of signals, rapid signal transmission and high-density mounting of electronic devices are becoming increasingly demanded in recent years. Associated with this trend, miniaturization and multipolarization of connectors are progressing.
To meet the above-mentioned demands, a conventional connector is arranged with electronic contacts (terminals) into which pillar-type signal pins (terminals) are inserted in the axis direction. The contacts are equipped with contact areas that compress the outside edges of the signal pins in the diameter direction. In this case, the contact pressure of each connector can be decreased. However, as the number of the signal pins increases, an increased amount of force is needed for installing and removing the connectors as a whole, thus making installation and removal of the connector difficult.
There is also a possibility that the connector itself may be damaged or a contacted electronic component such as an LSI device may be damaged during connector installation or removal. Therefore, it is required to substantially eliminate the force necessary for installing and removing the connector.
A connector shown in FIG. 1 is conventionally used to reduce the force required for connector installation and removal.
The connector 1 is made up of a base 3 including contacts 2, an actuator 4 and a cover 5.
The base 3 has the plurality of the contacts 2 supported in a cantilever formation. The actuator 4 has contact holes 4a into which free ends of contacts 2 are fitted. In addition, the actuator 4 includes a pair of slidable members, which can slide on the base 3 in lateral directions as indicated by the arrows. The cover 5 has an opening 5a, which guides the outside edge of an LSI device 6, and holds the actuator 4 slidably.
When pushed portions 4b of the actuator 4 are pressed in the directions indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1 to move the pair of slidable members of the actuator 4 closer to each other, the free ends of the contacts 2 fitted in the contact holes 4a of each member of the actuator 4 are pressed against a wall 4c defined by the contact holes 4a and move to dotted-lined positions in FIG. 1 from the regular positions. When the LSI device 6 is installed in the connector 1 in a such condition, signal pins 6a of the LSI device 6 fit into the connector 1 with little required force without rubbing against the contacts 2. The contacts 2 resume their regular positions when the pushed portions 4b are released, and the contacts 2 contact the signal pins 6a. Therefore the connector 1 and the LSI device 6 are electrically connected.
However, the conventional connector 1 is insufficient in providing a constant and stable electrical connection since each contact 2 is pressed against only one side of the signal pin 6a of the LSI device 6. Even if the form and the material of the contact 2 are redesigned in order to increase contact pressure to stabilize the connection, there is a possibility of damaging the signal pins 6a of the LSI device 6 and the contact 2 itself of the connector 1 after repeating the connector installing and removing.
In general, with signal transmission, unbalanced transmission is widely adopted from a viewpoint of cost saving. However, due to the increasing trends of rapid signal transmission and high-density mounting of electronic devices, unbalanced transmission is likely to be affected by noise, particularly when rapid signal transmission is adopted. Therefore, there is a tendency to adopt balanced transmission. In this case, the conventional connector easily realizes the rapid signal transmission, but due to the structural characteristic of the connectors requiring two signal pins, the high-density mounting is sacrificed.
Typically, on a substrate of an electronic device, a common-use earth contact is provided besides a large quantity of signal pins. However, when each signal pin is arranged extremely close to one another to cope with the demands for the rapid signal transmission and high-density mounting of the electronic device, the connector tends to be influenced by noise. To solve the above-mentioned problem, a pair of an earth contact and a signal pin is introduced, but in this case, the high-density mounting of the electronic device is likely to be affected.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a connector and an electronic component connectable to the connectors, which can solve the problems described above.
It is another and more specific object of the present invention to provide a connector and an electronic component connectable the connector not damaged by repeated connections and disconnections therebetween.
The connector of the present invention includes at least one pair of adjacent contacts having flexible free ends, arranged so as to face each other, wherein the least one pair of the adjacent contacts holds a terminal of connected electronic component so as to form an electrical connection to the electronic component.
The present invention enables high-density mounting of electronic devices for rapid signal transmission. In particular, it is possible to provide a stable electrical connection since a pair of the adjacent contacts is holding the terminal of the electronic component from both sides. Also, there is reduced possibility of damaging either the electronic component terminal or the contacts themselves.
The connector of the present invention also includes an actuator for adjusting the distance between the free ends of the at least one pair of adjacent contacts. The actuator includes two slat members, arranged one on top of the other having holes through which the free ends of the at least one pair of the adjacent contacts are positioned. Contacting walls of the holes of the two slat members contact so as to push apart the free ends of the at least one pair of adjacent contacts when the two slat members are pushed in opposite directions. The present invention enables the connector to connect to and disconnect from the electronic device terminal with little force, thus protecting the contacts.
In addition, the free ends of the at least one pair of adjacent contacts are circular-arc shaped and slightly shifted high and low with respect to each other. Likewise, the contacting walls of the holes of the slat members are circular-arc shaped. Since the apex of the arc of the free ends of the at least one pair of contacts is aligned with the apex of the arc of the contacting walls of the slat members, force is applied only in a horizontal direction to the circular-arc-shaped free ends when the actuator is pressed. In short, the force is applied only in the slidable directions of the slat members. As the force is not applied in a vertical direction so as to increase the friction force between the two slat members, it is possible to operate the actuator smoothly.
When the at least one pair of the adjacent contacts is made up of an earth contact and a signal contact, it is possible to arrange electronic device terminals close to one another and thus realize high-density mounting of electronic devices for rapid signal transmission.
When the at least one pair of adjacent contacts is made up of a pair of parallel signal contacts, the influence of noise can be reduced and it is possible to arrange electronic device terminals close to one another and thus realize a more preferable high-density mounting of electronic devices for rapid signal transmission.
An electronic component related to the present invention is connectable to the connector described in the present invention. The component includes a triple-layered terminal formed of a pair of terminals with insulating material therebetween.